Binance has reportedly shared Russian law enforcement with detailed transaction records and personal identity information tied to a man accused of funding terrorism through cryptocurrency donations linked to Ukrainian fundraising efforts. The disclosure, according to law enforcement documents reviewed by Reuters, became part of the evidence used in Russia’s case against an IT specialist awaiting trial.
Reuters reports that investigators requested the data from Binance and received information connecting the suspect to crypto transfers, along with sensitive personal details such as date of birth, address, phone number, and passport number—along with copies of his documents. Binance, in response to coverage, said it cooperates with lawful information requests subject to applicable legal, privacy, and regulatory requirements, while declining to comment on the specific matter.
Key takeaways
- Reuters reviewed documents indicating Russian authorities asked Binance for a customer’s transaction history and received personal identity details.
- The Russian Investigative Committee alleges the suspect sent more than $700 in crypto between January 2023 and March 2024 to Ukrainian military-related efforts and a banned group.
- Binance’s reported response included links to specific transfers as well as copies of a Russian passport and a Bulgarian residency permit.
- Binance says it generally cooperates with lawful information requests, but it declined to comment on the particular case.
What Russian investigators say the data was used for
Russia’s Investigative Committee alleges that IT specialist Yuri Belenkiy made cryptocurrency transfers totaling more than $700 between January 2023 and March 2024. The allegation is that the funds were directed to the Ukrainian military and to an organization identified by Reuters as the group known at different times as the Azov Brigade and the Azov Regiment.
According to Reuters’ review of law enforcement documents, investigators relied on information attributed to Binance in building the case. Belenkiy was detained in September 2025 and is currently awaiting trial in Russia.
Binance reportedly provided transaction trails and identity documents
The evidentiary link described by Reuters centers on a formal request from Russian authorities to Binance for Belenkiy’s transaction history. Reuters says the company’s response connected him to the alleged transfers.
Beyond blockchain-related activity, the response reportedly included personal identifying information commonly required for law enforcement verification: Belenkiy’s date of birth, address, phone number, and passport number. Reuters also reports that the material provided included copies of a Russian passport and a Bulgarian residency permit, suggesting the request extended beyond tracing crypto flows into confirming the suspect’s identity.
For investors and users, the case underlines a recurring reality of crypto compliance: even when transactions are pseudonymous on-chain, centralized exchange records and customer due diligence can materially shape investigations.
Why Binance’s Russia exit does not remove the data link
Binance announced a full exit from Russia in September 2023, selling its local business to CommEX, according to a Cointelegraph report. That corporate shift did not erase the underlying compliance trail described in the Reuters account—namely, that transaction history and customer information tied to a specific user can remain relevant to later investigations.
This distinction matters. “Exiting” a market typically addresses future operations and licensing, but it does not necessarily eliminate retention or earlier records associated with accounts created and used while a platform operated there. The Reuters reporting implies that the relevant data existed in a form Russian authorities could request, even years after the public announcement of Binance’s exit.
Binance’s response and the broader compliance tension
Reuters says a Binance spokesperson declined to comment on specific confidential law enforcement requests or on the details of individual cases. In a broader explanation given to Cointelegraph, Binance stated that it does not make or enforce laws, determine charges, or decide how any government uses information in legal proceedings. The company added that, like other global financial institutions, it cooperates with lawful information requests from law enforcement worldwide, subject to applicable legal, privacy, and regulatory requirements.
That formulation reflects a familiar compliance tension for crypto exchanges operating at the intersection of financial privacy, customer protection, and state requests. While platforms often frame cooperation as bounded by law and privacy rules, public reporting like this highlights how those safeguards function in practice—particularly when requests target individuals connected to politically sensitive conflicts.
It also raises practical questions for customers and the wider ecosystem: what categories of data exchanges retain; how long they retain it; and how cross-border identity and documentation checks can be combined with transaction history in court filings. The Reuters account does not detail those internal policies, but it shows the end result—law enforcement having both a behavioral trail (transfers) and a personal dossier (identity documents).
What to watch next
As Belenkiy’s case moves forward, attention will likely center on what precisely the court accepts as admissible evidence and whether the exchange-supplied materials are used narrowly for transaction tracing or more broadly for identity verification. More broadly, the episode is a reminder that even after major exchange restructuring or market exits, compliance data can still surface years later when investigators pursue crypto-related allegations.
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